The City of Wanderers - No Peaceful North Part One

Chapter Seventeen

Heavy snow had started to fall outside, forcing the four to continue using the mall for shelter. Their vehicle had been burned out while they were inside searching for the wanderer that didn't exist. It was most definitely done by Noah, which made Jim regret letting him go. They had no way back to Fort St. John and their transport couldn't get there for at least a few hours.
While Jim was on the phone with someone, Wes, Aditya and Cass were chilling on some cushions that were in the middle of the walkway. They had used the mask Aditya was given as a makeshift bandage for his hand until they could get back to the city. Wes felt horrible about it but Aditya seemed to be taking it quite well based on the conversation he was having with Cass.
"It's fine I guess, I still have one working hand. Better than having no hands." Aditya said as Cass asked him "Can you still move it?"
"Not really because it hurts when I do." Aditya answered shortly before Jim joined them again.
"Any luck?" Cass would then as Jim upon seeing them. They replied "Lawrence will get us but may get delayed because of this storm."
"Oh lovely, can't wait to hear his lecture." Cass said as Jim told everyone "I hope nobody is in dire need of something to eat or drink right now because it's gonna be a while before he gets here."
Wes was starting to feel hungry but the fight from earlier made him lose whatever appetite he had. Aditya would respond with "I'll survive until then. I've already been through worse."
Wes assumed he meant being stabbed through his hand, which happened about an hour ago at that point. He was hoping the damage wasn't too serious and he could still use it.
Few minutes later, Jim and Cass went off on their own again to check the backroom offices and such for any first aid kits while Wes and Aditya remained on the cushions. The wind outside was picking up and could be heard howling off of the broken skylights nearby. Aditya would break their silence by telling Wes "I know you're probably blaming yourself for this when it's not your fault some lunatic tried to pin me to a wall."
Wes looked at him and didn't say anything back. Not that he didn't want to, rather he didn't know what to say. Aditya was right, he usually was. He would then start leaning on Wes and asked "Who was he anyways? You two seemed to know each other."
Wes' heart rate suddenly increased upon being asked that. He answered "I've never seen that guy before in my life."
"You told me you knew him earlier." Aditya pointed out Wes' contradiction. That was true, Wes did say he knew him, but never met him in-person. Wes took a deep breath and explained to him "His sister attacked me on the ferry before vanishing. That guy, Noah, is her brother. He's after Knox and Erin along with us now."
"Oh, lovely." Was Aditya's only comment on that. He then put his uninjured hand on Wes' and asked him again "Are you okay with telling me what really happened that day?"
Wes was hoping he wouldn't ask that. He didn't want to lie to his husband but the truth would also hurt him. He didn't know what to do.
"I was attacked because that woman, Niamh, believed I was harbouring a terrorist. That's all I remember." Wes responded, it was the truth but not the full story.
"And that supposed 'terrorist' was Knox, who we brought all the way north." Aditya finished the story before continuing to ask Wes "But what happened to Niamh? She just vanished."
"I dunno, I was unconscious." Wes replied rather defensively. Aditya stopped leaning on him and said "Oh, sorry for pressuring you. I guess now isn't a good time."
Wes didn't say anything else as Aditya added "I mean, someone could always check the security footage if they really wanted to know."
Wes completely forgot about that possibility. That made him panic more, maybe that's how Noah knew it was him who killed Niamh. The nightmare he had the previous night truly was a warning.
"Uh, can we talk about something else?" Wes asked as Aditya told him "Oh yeah, of course. I should've realized that topic is sensitive to you, I'm sorry."
Wes tried to think of something to talk about as Aditya started leaning on him again but couldn't think about anything. He was worrying about the very real possibility that several people knew he killed an important person. People that were going to try to kill him and Aditya as well as an act of revenge. Instead, Aditya asked Wes once again "Did you ever expect your life to turn out this way?"
Wes was a bit caught off guard by that question as he asked back "What do you mean?"
"Like, when I was younger I thought at this point I would've had a wife and some kids. Instead I'm in the real life zombie apocalypse chilling inside an abandoned mall with my husband." Aditya explained to Wes, who then knew what he meant. Wes didn't think he would end up having a lifelong partner to begin with. He had dated Keri in the past but only out of pressure, he did like her but as a friend. Wes never felt that type of attraction to anyone until he met Aditya over 20 years ago.
"I don't think anyone expected to be going through a zombie apocalypse in their lives." Wes told him in response. Aditya then said "Yeah, very true. I don't think anyone had anything that happened that year on their bingo cards."
Wes agreed. 2014 was a very eventful year full of mostly bad things.
"We were gonna start a family that year." Aditya mentioned, his tone of voice shifting to a sadder one. That was true, they were ready to adopt a kid but then the world they knew ended. Wes put his arm around Aditya in attempt to comfort him. He also told him "It's not too late still, maybe someday we could."
Aditya also put his arm around Wes and responded with "Yeah, this won't last forever."
Aditya would then give Wes a small kiss on the cheek and Wes did the same back to him.
"Aww, how cute." Wes heard Cass speak from a distance. He didn't realize she and Jim were coming back already.
"Ah, yeah, we're like that sometimes." Aditya said upon their return.
"Don't worry about it either, we won't tell anyone." Jim also told them as they raised a small red bag up and said "Anyways, found some stuff."
Jim and Cass managed to find a first aid kit somewhere that wasn't damaged or looted. Wes was kinda surprised they did in a place that seemed to have nothing left to even take. They applied proper bandages and stuff to Aditya's hand. The bleeding was no longer as bad as it was before but it was still there. He was likely going to need stitches like Wes did. Though it was likely time for his to come out soon. The four would then continue to wait out the storm for the rest of the night in that mall, or at least until Lawrence showed up. Few more hours passed and their transport had arrived to retrieve them.